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A Wonderful Stay at Hotel Odyssey Paris

October 22, 2012 by cheriecity

Hotel Odyssey is a new boutique design hotel in Paris’ first arrondissement, designed by renowned French designer Ora-ïto. You might be most familiar with Ora-ïto’s forward-thinking architecture and product design on projects such as Gucci Villa, Hi Panda shops, Lancaster stores, the Miss Pucci fragrance bottle and make-up packaging for Guerlain.

For my trip to Paris last month, I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of Hotel Odyssey before it opened to the public. In fact, we were the very first guests to stay in the hotel – even before the owners and the designer. Of course, this meant that the hotel was still a ‘work in progress’, with some of the public areas yet to be unveiled, but it was exciting to get an insight into how a hotel develops in its final days of construction.

The Hotel

Hotel Odyssey is a futuristic urban retreat, designed to calm the senses with smooth lines, relaxing curves and tactile textures. It will surely appeal to fans of Pantone, as each of the 29 rooms takes a different shade from the dominant floor colour.

There are three room types – the very cosy cocoon room, the larger Odyssey room and the impressive galileo room with a separate lounge area. We stayed on the fifth floor and our Odyssey room had a deep purple hue, with light wood and white Corian touches.

The rooms have a slick, futuristic vibe and are designed according to the Simplexity philosophy, using wood, glass, felt and corian. Ora-ïto makes clever use of the space and though our room was petite, the brightness prevented it from being stifling.

The Room

The room features are functional and of a high standard, with a flat screen TV with satellite channels, reasonable storage space, powerful air-conditioning and free wifi. It’s also possible for guests to borrow a laptop from reception and in-room massages are available to book. I found it a little difficult not having a desk or bedside table, however, if you’re a more organised traveller, this shouldn’t be a problem.

The queen-size bed is very comfortable, with crisp white linen, purple felt headboards and a little space behind the bed with plenty of electric sockets – perfect if you’re travelling with a phone, laptop, camera, iPad, iPod etc. The rooms are very quiet and there is a choice of pillows (including memory foam), so everything is set up for a good night’s sleep.

The Bathroom

The open-plan bathroom has an excellent rainfall shower, plenty of large fluffy towels and bathroom products by Ora-ïto. The unusual white Corian material used in the bathroom feels silky and smooth and the rectangular-shaped sink with rounded corners reminded me of an iMac. The glass bathroom is partially covered by gradient colour for a certainly amount of privacy and there is a separate toilet.

Breakfast

During our visit, the breakfast room and bar weren’t quite ready yet, so we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Hotel Crayon, also part of Elegancia Hotels, just around the corner on Rue du Bouloi. Guests at Hotel Odyssey can enjoy a buffet breakfast (€16 per person per day) from 7am-11am in the beautifully-designed ground-floor breakfast room or in their room.

The Bar

The hotel bar is tucked away and partitioned off, making it an intimate, cosy place to have a stylish aperitif or a bespoke late-night cocktail. There is no restaurant, as it is a small boutique hotel, but guests can order room service from 5pm to 1.30am.

Hotel Odyssey is an ideal base for exploring Paris, offering interesting design features and a central location at a reasonable price. The staff are so warm, welcoming and passionate about the hotel. They were very enthusiastic about the opening and keen to impress, so they will surely make all stays as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

Location

The location is not only perfectly central but also inspiring, just a short stroll from the Palais Royal and within walking distance of the Tuileries and the Louvre. In fact, rue Hérold is a secretly hip spot with an outpost of designer concept store L’Eclaireur, Rue Hérold fabric shop, Les Ateliers Ruby motorcycle helmet flagship store and Le Musée en Herbe art museum for children. Walk towards the Place des Victoires and you’ll find Claudie Pierlot, Zadig & Voltaire and one of the city’s best fashion magazine shops – mode…information.

Rooms at Hotel Odyssey Paris start from £125 per night. For more information, visit: www.hotelodysseyparis.com

Chérie City was a guest of Hotel Odyssey

For more Paris hotel ideas, read my review of:

Hotels, Hotels - Design, London

Georgian Splendour at The Zetter Townhouse

May 18, 2011 by cheriecity

Sitting in the Townhouse Suite at The Zetter Townhouse, amid sumptuous fabrics, epic novels and a mysterious wall partition, I looked out from the large sash windows over the cobbled streets and felt instantly transported to the worlds of Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde (the latter being from a later era, but nevertheless a literary deviant).

There are few hotels in London that can conjure up the spirit of times gone by, but The Zetter Townhouse is a boutique temple to all things romantic and antiquated, with all the modern luxury touches, of course.

A handsome Georgian townhouse, The Zetter Townhouse has been designed by Russell Sage (other projects include The Savoy and The Goring) and occupies a charmed location on a cobbled cul-de-sac tucked just behind The Zetter Hotel and next door to The Modern Pantry.

On arrival, The Zetter Townhouse has an intimate, homely atmosphere, as there is no designated check-in area, just a discreet computer at the back of the cocktail lounge.

Our dwelling for the night was the stunning Townhouse Suite. Designed in earthy library shades (think Farrow & Ball), the bedroom and separate living area were filled with dark wood antique furnishings, sumptuous Gainsborough fabrics, Persian rugs and the most gorgeous striped carpet ran throughout.

The spacious bedroom felt relaxing and homely and had a small writing desk, wall-mounted flat-screen TV and large glass bottles of complimentary spring water from The Zetter Borehole by the bedside. The bed not only looks divine, with heavy damask drapes, but was like being nestled inside a marshmallow and covered in the finest linen.

The bathroom is huge and well-appointed with a vintage-style freestanding bath with showerhead, a mist-free mirror, magnifying mirror, plenty of fluffy towels, embroidered bathrobes and slippers, a vintage-style Roberts radio and natural REN bath products.

In fact, there are enough REN products for an indulgent spa evening, as we were given a whole range of lovely bath and skincare products to try out. More beauty brands really should work more with hotels to gain new devotees to the ranges!

A current trend for hotels is to have glass bathroom doors as some kind of anti-bourgeois liberal statement (the English prude in me doesn’t like them). However, The Zetter Townhouse has a more playful approach to the bathroom peek-a-boo with carved wooden shutters opening to the bedroom.

Minimalism is an unknown concept at The Zetter Townhouse and the mass of antique furniture gives the rooms purpose and character, as though you’ve just walked into a luxurious city pied-à-terre.

The Zetter Townhouse may look back to more romantic epoques, but its approach to hosting guests is one of the most forward-thinking and accommodating in London.

The separate living room has everything you could possibly need for elegance lounging. We had a flat screen TV (in each room), personally selected hard-back novels, a stack of glossy magazines, a SONOS music system and best of all, free wifi.

Taking tea is a ritual at The Zetter Townhouse and there is no compromising on the quality of the products or the ceremony.

A generous selection of loose leaf teas from Rare Tea Co. came with a tea pot, tea strainer and large cups. We also had use of a Nespresso machine complete with plenty coffee capsules and my favourite new gadget, a Latteccino, which makes hot, frothy milk in a mere minute.

Soon after we arrived, we were brought platter of freshly sliced fruit, a bottle of fresh milk and ice, should we wish for an aperitif.

Bistrot Bruno Loubet is just a stone-throw away at The Zetter Hotel, but you can quite easily coop yourself in at your city bolthole without having to hunt and gather dinner.

The cocktail bar offers bar snack and light meals and there is 24-hour room service, a gourmet snack tray and minibar stocked with bespoke Zetter Townhouse mixed cocktails and restorative bitters.

That evening, we went down to The Zetter Cocktail Lounge to try some of the Olde English-style cocktails. Downstairs is where the real quirkiness of the townhouse is felt, as the cocktail lounge, adjoining dining room and basement games room are filled with bric-a-brac, oddities and taxidermy from around the world.

The Cocktail Lounge is a collaboration between The Zetter and the creators of the highly-esteemed 69 Colebrook Row, Tony Conigliaro and Camille Hobby Limon.

We sat under the watchful gaze of the hotel’s painted patron, Wilhelmina, but more about her later (no, she’s not the kangaroo).

After a long, peaceful sleep, we awoke to a wonderful continental breakfast delivered to our room. And what a visual feast it was too – just look at the divine china and silver cutlery!

We started the day with fresh, flaky pastries, home-made chocolate chip mini muffins, sourdough toast served with French butter and a large saucer of home-made jam, coconut yogurt, Cornflakes, fruit juice and the most delicious pears and apricots stewed in cinnamon syrup. On weekends, The Zetter Townhouse serves a cooked breakfast, which I imagine to be just as decadent and delicious.

A stay at The Zetter Townhouse is one of those magical experiences that you’ll never forget and it will probably become a benchmark for comparing all future hotel experiences.

Eccentricity is matched with a meticulous attention to detail, creating a charming London residence steeped in history with all the mod cons that you’d expect from a modern design hotel. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Take a look inside the Townhouse Suite…

For info and booking, visit: www.thezettertownhouse.com

Chérie City was a guest of Zetter Townhouse.

All photos by Chérie City.

Amsterdam, Hotels, Hotels - Budget, Hotels - Design

A Great Stay at CitizenM Amsterdam City Hotel

May 17, 2011 by cheriecity

Citizen Coralie Aude Grassin visits Amsterdam’s innovative budget design hotel that is soon to arrive in London…

Going on a city-break always brings a dilemma. Should you splash out on the hotel or the activities? You then end up spending hours on the web trying to find the best deal for a gorgeous looking place.

CitizenM Amsterdam City has come up with an interesting solution – a design yet budget-friendly hotel. Situated just 10 minutes by train from Schiphol Airport and 15 minutes by tram (which stops right in front of the building) from the town centre, it proves an excellent option for week-ends away.

No wait for the check in – you can enter your reservation code yourself on the computers as soon as you step in and program your key card. Same goes for the check-out.

There is, of course, always a member of staff nearby if you are in need of help or a place to put your luggage for a few hours. They proved very helpful with our tourist questions, even going online to give us the train schedules and providing us with a helpful pop-up map of the city.

The rooms use a new design angle – the bed is extra-wide with storage drawers underneath, the window takes the whole wall to offer maximum lighting and the shower is hidden in a colour changing capsule. It feels modern, new and fun.

A remote control allows you to open the electric curtains, play music, watch TV or modify the hue of the bathroom bubble (that alone will keep you playing quite some time).

CitizenM also has a great sense of humour with little touches here and there. A note advises you to lock your valuables… lucky socks included. On each room door is a saying, with a different theme per floor.

We loved how random they could be and visited several corridors just to enjoy them: “When selecting a camel, choose one with a full neck, it indicates heightness” (Egypt), “A good lawyer is a bad neighbour” (North America), “3rd of July: Grandmothers festival”, in which thousands of grandmothers gather to scuba dive, parachute jump, ride motorcycles and play football (Norway). You’re not likely to forget which room is yours! Even coffee cups have a playful wording.

The whole design of the hotel is fascinating. Most of the furniture is by Vitra – an interesting balance of modern and Asian inspiration. Wander through the whole ground floor to enjoy different atmospheres in each niche. Free wifi is available with a dedicated space offering iMacs if you have not brought your laptop. Plenty of chairs and tables invite guests to pause and chat the whole evening away.

Just stop at the café, open 24/7, and grab sushi, fresh sandwiches, pastries, lovely salads with a twist…or even order a gorgeous cocktail such as the violet-based house signature, Mobile Martini!

CitizenM proves a very well-considered hotel, allowing independence and flexibility while still retaining a homely feeling. You can also decide to stay at their airport location (a 25 minute train ride from the town centre). Keep the name in mind – there is also a CitizenM in Glasgow and they are soon to open their doors in London, both near the Tate Modern and in Tower Hill.

Rooms start from €89 per night. For more info and booking, visit: www.citizenm.com

All photos by Coralie Aude Grassin.